No shark fin soup for you
Let’s not confuse a conservation measure with discrimination
Ah, shark fin soup. No soup in the history of mankind has generated this much controversy. A couple of years ago, few people outside of the Chinese community knew what shark fin soup was. Today, many are aware that the demand for shark fin soup is causing the extinction of sharks worldwide.
As Parliament prepares to vote on private member’s Bill C-380 to ban the import of shark fins into Canada on Wednesday, the great shark fin debate and the “cultural issues” that go along with it have been reignited.
As such, it is a good time to set the record straight: banning shark fins is not an attack on the Chinese culture. In fact, the shark movement is being championed by Chinese leaders around the world.
In Canada, Chinese Canadians have advocated for shark fin bans in our cities. We do so with the support of our colleagues and constituents. We continue to push forward and are unfazed by so-called “cultural issues” because those who cry “discrimination” profit greatly from selling shark fins.
Certain opponents to the shark fin ban represent their own business interests and absolutely do not represent the entire “Chinese community.” They have tried taking this issue to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, and were quickly dismissed. Their main complaint is about “profit rights” not “human rights.”
The shark movements in the United States, like those in Canada, are also being led by Chinese leaders. The shark fin ban in Hawaii was introduced by Chinese-American Senator Clayton Hee, who is currently travelling around the world lobbying for laws to end shark finning. The ban in California was led by Chinese-American Senator Paul Fong. The California bill received support from an overwhelming number of Chinese individuals, including prominent elected officials and two of San Francisco’s own mayoral candidates.
The bans in Canada and the United States were not only brought forward by Chinese policy-makers, they were also strongly supported by shark conservation organizations that were founded by Chinese advocates. These included Shark Truth, APAOHA (Asian Pacific American Ocean Harmony Alliance), and ECCA(Ethical Chinese Consumers Alliance).
Chinese celebrities are also taking a stand, and perhaps the biggest shark advocate in the world is also the biggest star in China: NBA celebrity Yao Ming. Billboards showing Ming’s message to stop eating shark fin soup can be found in major cities throughout China. Hollywood star Jackie Chan and renowned director Ang Lee are also big shark advocates. Shark movements are happening throughout Asia. Five-star hotels in China and Hong Kong, including The Peninsula, Shangri-La and Fairmont, have banned shark fin soup in their restaurants. The top supermarket chain in Singapore, Carrefour, has banned shark fins on its store shelves. And the world’s largest carrier of air cargo, Cathay Pacific, has stopped shipping unsustainable shark products.
In July 2012, the Chinese government announced that it would prohibit official state banquets from serving shark fin soup, to be phased out within three years.
So, while those who profit from selling shark fins might cry “discrimination” as a smokescreen to all the profits at stake, we know that their argument is false because those who are pushing hardest for shark fin bans are Chinese themselves.
So let’s keep so-called “cultural issues” out of the shark fin debate because there are none, and let’s refocus on what a shark fin ban is really all about: protecting consumers from a food product with dangerously high levels of mercury largely devoid of vitamins or other nutrients and the promotion of ocean conservation by preventing the rapid extinction of sharks.